Girardot
King Girardot (also known as the "Tyrant Invincible King") was a powerful conqueror and king of all of Boten. He left his mark on history first as a general under the preceding king, Dio, then as a usurper to the throne. Before his death at the tail end of the Thanatos Conflict, Girardot had managed to attain an iron grip on the whole of Boten, uniting the countries of Noresha, Noremma and Norgund under his flag. Background Girardot was an extremely imposing man, standing at 6'8" and weighing 270 pounds. Even in his advanced human age, Girardot boasted an impressive muscular physique that may have been aided by his reliance on several of the legendary Arzegas artifacts - most relevantly, the cape Majestaux. He also employed the use of the legendary spear Empalez. He owed much of his success, however, to his wearing of the legendary armor Plaistron, which granted Girardot complete immunity to physical harm and lead to him being given the monicre 'Tyrant Invincible King'. History Beginnings The man who would go on to become one of Metaroc's most fearsome conquerors had humble beginnings as a commoner born somewhere on Boten (which country he was born in is lost to time). Girardot's childhood is a complete mystery; the first records of his life begin as an enlisted soldier under the banner of Dio, the king claimant for all of Boten. The records listed Girardot as being 23 years of age and his hailing as the Falkjorn mountains, the name given to the mountain range lying between Noresha and Norgund. He enlisted as a private, lacking the necessary education or standing to be an officer. The Northern Wars Girardot would prove a fierce and competent soldier, rapidly rising through the ranks with each promotion he received. His battle prowess was strengthened greatly when, raiding an old temple in present-day Norgund, Girardot claimed a mighty lance that had been enshrined within the temple. Using his impressive strength to wield the lance as though it were merely a large spear, Girardot tore through his enemies with relative ease. Proving himself to be a genius tactician as well by winning several battles against incredible odds, King Dio granted Girardot the honor of being one of his top generals. He was the youngest man to attain the rank of general of Dio's army, at age 30. With the master tactician in a role of leadership, Dio's army swiftly crushed any and all resisting forces in Boten, and the entire continent now answered only to one king. It was on one of the final raids to take the whole of the continent that Girardot found another artifact sequestered away beneath a destroyed tower. A glowing suit of armor encrusted with runes, Girardot attempted to don the armor for himself, only to find that he was rendered almost completely unable to move under the immense weight of the armor. As fate would have it, a small force intent on assassinating him had followed Girardot and his guardsmen to the tower. A great attempt on the general's life was made while he tried desperately to move, but was pleased to discover himself immune to blade and arrow alike, even those striking his uncovered head. As he was the primary target of the attack, his guardsmen were able to kill the assassins fairly easily following the failed attempts at killing Girardot. A New King Girardot dedicated the next month of his life attempting to wear the armor and move inside of it, slowly becoming more proficient in its use as he practiced operating under its crushing weight. After his period of training, he was able to fight fairly proficiently under the bulky restrictions of the armor which still slowed him down, but it proved a small price to pay when even cannonballs would bounce off of his chest as though nothing had happened. Confident in his own powers, Girardot answered a summon to King Dio's palace. Once there, he immediately struck down the king (relieving him of the legendary cape Majestaux) and slew any who attempted to retaliate, forcibly usurping the throne from Dio. With no direct heirs of the former king to challenge him, Girardot was free to focus on any remaining uprisings; these, in turn, became more frequent with the turbulent political change of regency. Over the next several decades, there would be several bloody rebellions that all ended with Girardot and his army crushing any dissenters. Prisoners were seldom taken, and those that were ended up executed in public spectacles meant to demoralize the public into making any other attempts to rebel. Constant unrest and attempts on his life, even with the assurance of the armor keeping him safe, drove Girardot increasingly mad, causing him to be even more bloodthirsty than before. The 'tyrant invincible king' was sure to earn the entirety of his title, often sending entire regiments into cities to overturn everything and ensure there were no plots against him brewing. At his castle in the Vajor mountains, sitting at the center of the continent (and where, today, all three independent countries of Boten intersect), Girardot had an elite squad of assassins trained to be his bodyguard, and to eliminate any important figures that stood out as potential threats to his power. The Thanatos Conflict In 930 or 931 CD, King Girardot became tempted with the idea of conquering Taliesin and expanding his empire to a second continent. Conversing with his high adviser, Girardot allowed the conflict between Xycan (the mercenary company that controlled much of Taliesin's arms at the time) and Thanatos (the cult that was spreading its influence across both continents) to brew, weakening both sides. He planned on making a grand voyage to Taliesin with an armada of 20 warships, intending to take the entire continent by force once the conflict had boiled to a head. However, Girardot found himself betrayed both by his adviser (who was also playing both sides of the Xycan/Thanatos struggle) and by Firalt, one of the very assassins he had trained to his service. Having lost his entire fleet to explosives placed in the belly of each ship, Girardot attempted to overtake the skirmish that had blossomed in front of him between the head of Thanatos and his adviser, who had employed a horrific creature of magic. Suddenly up against forces beyond his comprehension, Girardot was smacked into the ocean and was presumed drowned. A short while later, the king washed up on shore, having removed his armor but somehow retaining both his spear and cape while swimming to the coast. His former assassin having revealed his betrayal, Girardot became enraged and attempted to slay him. While his skill in combat was as sharp as ever and his movements were unhindered by his armor, he was still vulnerable to attack and eventually was slain by Firalt. Firalt destroyed the king's body and took up his mantle as the next king of Boten, making an effort to strike Girardot's name from history but ultimately failing. Category:Rulers Category:NPCs Category:Boten